Sylvan Lake is moving ahead with a waste-to-energy plant proposal after the technology checked out and financial risks were addressed.
Calgary-based Fogdog Energy has tweaked its proposal to up-front the estimated $400,000 cost of developing the site next to the town’s waste transfer site where the plant would be located. Another $40,000 in road upgrades will also be covered.
The town would eventually pay the money back.
“This scenario essentially removes the financial risk from the town for the proposal and is intended by Fogdog Energy to demonstrate their confidence in the proposal,” says a report that was reviewed by town council in a special meeting on Tuesday night.
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When Fogdog first came forward with its project, it was proposed the town pay for all of the necessary site work and recoup it through lease fees and operational savings.
To do their due diligence, town officials travelled to Italy last month to see the technology in action, which uses friction heat to turn almost all forms of municipal waste into a “carbon fluff” that can then be converted into hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and diesel.
Operations manager John Watson and economic development officer Vicki Kurz met with equipment manufacturers in Italy and saw a smaller waste converter operating during a five-day trip early last month. The $8,300 cost of the trip came out of existing budgets.
A meeting with municipal officials in Genoa, where a similar waste converter had operated until being closed because it was deemed too close to housing, did not happen. Town officials plan to talk to their Genoan municipal counterparts by Skype instead.
Town communications officer Joanne Gaudet said staff who went to assess the technology and Fogdog’s proposal were satisfied it was viable.
“They did see an operational facility,” said Gaudet. “They both agreed there appears to be a strong market for it.”
Fogdog says almost all waste – except for glass and metals, which would be recycled separately – can be converted using the process, which is commonly used in Europe. Water produced by the process can irrigate farmland.
The first phase will have the capacity to convert 50 tonnes of waste per day. Sylvan Lake generates 15 tonnes per day on average.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, Fogdog must build and operate the processing plant and lease the land at market value. A tippage rate is capped at $100 per tonne and no minimum waste volumes can be required.
The processing plant that converts the fluff into fuel cannot be located at the waste transfer site.
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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